Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 99: Don’t Cry, Master Alchemy!

"Master Alchemy? Have you finished your business?"

A familiar voice echoed throughout her mind. A voice she had convinced herself she might never hear again.

She hesitated to turn around out of fear of it being an illusion—something her mind made up while in a state of delirium.

But the possibility of it being true. The slim possibility that the voice belonged to its rightful owner was too alluring for her not to look.

So she did. Alchemy turned her head, revealing her tear-filled face to the rest of the world.

In that world, only one saw.

A young white deer with eyes like emeralds and horns of sapphire.

"Sapphire..." Alchemy’s mouth gaped like an idiot.

"EH? Master Alchemy?! Are you okay?!" Sapphire panicked, running up to check on Alchemy.

When she got close enough, Alchemy pounced. She lunged at Sapphire and embraced her in a hug.

"Sapphire! Please! Don’t leave me!" She cried.

"E-eh? Master Alchemy? What happened?! Did I mess up somehow?" Sapphire questioned in response.

Sapphire was scared, but those fears were put away instantly when Alchemy pulled away from their embrace.

Her face was wet due to the crying. If Sapphire appeared any later, her face would’ve been red as a tomato, and she was lucky that she didn’t have any make up on.

Yet she still looked pathetic.

"No... No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the only one who messed up, okay? Just... Just don’t leave me, yeah? Or if you’re going to, at least tell me first. I don’t know what I’d do if you went missing out of the blue."

Sapphire’s eyes widened.

"EH? You... You’re like this because of me?"

Alchemy put on a pained smile.

"Silly child. Who else could make me like this?"

She attempted to fall backward, but a tree trunk caught her fall.

"Seriously... Ever since I’ve come to this forsaken world, you somehow managed to see the worst of me every time. How do you manage it." She chuckled, trying her best to make light of her emotions.

The rage from losing her first unit, the terror from Gravana and Rio, and now the disgusting sorrow.

Alchemy had always known that her mentality toward others was terrible, but this revelation came as a surprise even to her.

’Hey, system. Is it possible to hide these memories away from Nera? I don’t think I’m capable of dealing with her right now.’

|<Notice: Confirmed. A small portion of your memories has been locked.>|

|<Notice: The System suggests learning how to use the Verminae’s Psuedo-Hivemind as soon as possible!>|

’Yeah, yeah. I’ll look into it later. Just... Thanks.’

|<...>|

"M-master Alchemy! Please don’t cry! I-I’d never leave you!"

"Y-you mean it?" Alchemy questioned.

"Mhm! Even if we’re thrown into fire! B-but if that happens, you’ll have to protect me from the heat..."

While Alchemy looked at Sapphire, she rubbed the young deer’s head with a chuckle. A genuine one this time.

"Silly girl. I’ll ensure neither of us has to touch that fire."

Looking up into the sky, Alchemy quickly stood herself up.

The sun was beginning to set.

"Oh shoot. I left Gravana hanging while looking for you. I need to hurry back."

"Don’t you mean we need to hurry back?" Sapphire joked.

The two looked at each other, their eyes meeting until they laughed in unison.

"Young Lady. Who taught you to talk back to your master?"

"Nera, of course!"

"Aren’t you supposed to be the older sibling of the two of you? You can’t let her influence you like that!"

Sapphire nodded.

"U-uhm... But Master Alchemy. Why were you looking for me?"

"What do you mean, why? We got back, and then you were suddenly gone. You weren’t in the room like usual; you didn’t even appear on the map!"

"A-all that for me?"

There was a hint of confusion in Sapphire’s voice.

"Obviously. You’re... A critical asset to the Verminae, you know! So if you’re gonna leave, just give me some time to prepare for it. If not physically, then mentally."

It was a little late at this point, but Alchemy tried to hide her true intentions. Naturally, she failed miserably, even the naive Sapphire catching on.

"I already said that I wouldn’t leave you! You saved me that day, and I swore to follow you! I just... I thought I heard a voice from inside the hut. When I went out to check what it was, all the Verminae acted as if they didn’t hear it." Sapphire explained herself.

’A voice the Verminae didn’t hear? Telepathy? More importantly... She called off the Verminae who were following her while investigating a potentially hostile voice?’ Alchemy hummed.

"Did you recognize the voice? What did they say?"

Sapphire hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.

"Uhm... Not really. At the very least, what they said wasn’t in the common tongue." She said.

Alchemy’s low hum continued as she thought about what the cause could’ve been.

"Make sure you tell me these things going forward. I’ll have the Verminae units increase their patrol area. Thanks for looking out for the base while I was gone, though. I appreciate it."

"Right! S-so how did the dungeon exploration... Is that what you called it? How did it go?"

Sapphire’s question made Alchemy shrug.

"Fine, I guess. I didn’t reach level 50, though, which is a bummer. I haven’t checked all the rewards yet, but Nera supposedly got a really good sword. Speaking of, Nera stayed back to check out some carvings we found, so she might not be back home yet."

"Wow! Does that mean Nera won’t need to fight with trees anymore?" Sapphire asked, half joking.

"Hopefully. Although I think she also wants to use a lance and a spear, so she still might. I really hope those Dryads don’t mind because I think she alone is gonna cut down half the trees in the forest."

Sapphire nodded in agreement. That sounded like something Nera would do. She wasn’t one who cared much for the nature surrounding her.

"Well, would you look at who finally decided to come back! Did ya’ have fun on your little adventure?" A voice bellowed.

’Shoot.’